Review -- SAMARA YUNG -- Show Me The World

SHOW ME THE WORLD
Samara Yung
Independent
8-out-of-10
Samara Yung is a young singer/songwriter from Yorkton, best known to-date locally for her 2005 win of the GX94 Star Search.
Well that is all about to change for Yung who has taken the first major step toward becoming known for her country music, with the release of her debut CD Show Me The World.
This is a nice first effort for Yung, who has shown some amazing growth in the three short years since her GX win. At the time she recorded the song Boomerang as part of her prize package. That song is included here, although it probably should have been tossed aside because it is easily the weakest cut here. She has simply grown beyond the sort of cotton candy lyrics of Boomerang, and is taking on songs with bigger vocals today.
The first single off the CD was But It Was, also the CD's lead-in cut, one of those safe, radio friendly numbers that really the radio airwaves are full of. Again not the best cut by far here.
Fortunately after the somewhat predictable country start to this disk, Yung finds her way into better music.
Big Ol' Monday Morning and the title track are both solid current country efforts, as is A Horse To Ride, the first two which Yung has co-write credits with Steve Fox. It is encouraging to see this young performer pick up the pen, because often in the long run the best songs come from within the singer who sings them.
Fox, who has his hand in writing a number of the songs here, also produced the album, which was recorded for the most part in Nashville, using solid studio musicians, so the sound comes off as smoothly polished.
Now to get too the cream here. Strong Enough is beautiful love song, and it takes Yung's voice into a different range, and she pulls it off wonderfully, and again Yung and Fox teamed on the writing.
However, the truly best song here is James, John & Joni, a song written by Tim Taylor and Tobi Vos. In a recent interview with Yorkton This Week Yung said, “I kind of fell in love with it the first time I heard it,” noting the title refers to music icons James Taylor, John Lennon and Joni Mitchell. Well listeners are likely to fall in love with this one too. The song is expected to be the CD's next single release.
While Yung may not have taken a lot of risks with this one, she did put together a first album with 13 songs, many which could easily see radio airplay, and that is critical in terms of exposure for an emerging artist.
When you add in Yung's winning smile and beautiful looks, Yung is the total package in terms of what the industry is looking for.
The next CD will hopefully see her take a few more risks in terms of material, and then she will have it all, as it is, she's still darned good.
Keep track of this young lady's career at www.samarayung.ca
-- CALVIN DANIELS

-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Sept. 10, 2008 - Yorkton, SK. Canada